Army commander suspended over sexual misconduct charges

The Army’s top general at Fort Jackson has been suspended over allegations of assault and adultery. The news strikes another blow against the US military, which has come under immense scrutiny for its frequent sex scandals involving senior officers.

Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts is facing accusations of adultery and
engaging in a physical altercation with a woman that is not his
wife. The 29-year veteran was the top general at Fort Jackson,
S.C., where he took command in April 2012. He previously served as
head of a unit training Iraqi soldiers. Roberts has been suspended
pending an investigation into the allegations against him.

The Army made the announcement of Roberts’ suspension on
Tuesday, but did not provide further details regarding the
assault and adultery allegations.

“It was not clear whom Brig. Gen Bryan Roberts struck,”
USA TODAY reported, indicating that the general may have physically
harmed the woman with whom he had an altercation. NBC News
reports that the altercation involved Roberts and the woman he
allegedly cheated on his wife with, and that the two were involved
in a violent argument. After making up, Roberts allegedly bit the
woman’s lip, which caused her to seek medical help, a US military
official told the news agency.

Brig. Gen. Peggy Combs, Commandant of the US Army Chemical,
Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School at Fort Leonard Wood,
Missouri, will take over as interim commander while the
investigation is ongoing.

The U.S. Army’s Command and Staff page on Tuesday
showed a vacant spot under the position of “Commanding
General”.

The suspension is the latest sex scandal involving a senior
military officer. In recent months, the Pentagon has come under
enormous pressure to address the number of military sexual assault
allegations.

Earlier this month, Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, was
arrested for drunkenly groping a woman. Krusinski was in charge of
sexual abuse prevention, which made the case more disgraceful than
most.

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen, the US military
soldier responsible for overseeing sexual assault prevention at
Ford Hood is also under investigation
for sexual assault. The man is facing allegations including the
maltreatment of subordinates and running a prostitution ring.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Darin Haas, the manager of Fort Campbell’s
sexual harassment prevention office, was fired from his post and
arrested on charges of violating an order of protection, and
stalking his ex-wife.

Although the details of Roberts’ allegations remain unclear and
it is not known whether the ‘assault’ was a sexual assault, his
misconduct serves as further embarrassment to the Pentagon during a
month filled with news of sex scandals and shocking statistics.

Pentagon officials recently announced that sexual assault
incidents have increased by 35 percent from 2010 to 2012, bringing
the annual total to 26,000 last year. The Department of Veteran
Affairs also found that 85,000 US veterans received
medical treatment for sex abuse trauma last year, which indicates
that the effects of assault have far-reaching consequences, both
financially and emotionally.